Gluten Free Moroccan Beef & Aubergine Tagine

Spicy Moroccan Beef & Aubergine Tagine with squashy garlic

All I wanted for Christmas was a Tagine! This particular one was a gift from my parents.

I saw these lovely little conical cooking pots whilst holidaying in Morocco years ago, but, as a Coeliac I was unable to sample any of the local cuisine in fear of being poisoned (the meat is usually sealed with a dusting of flour)..... so, I tried making my own!

Having not tried the authentic Moroccan Tagines whilst there, I am not too sure how the flavour of my dish compares. To my surprise, despite the amount of spices I used, it was not a hot, spicy, curry type dish, but more of a flavoursome, aromatic, stew.

If possible, cook for over 2hours to completely tenderise the beef.

To begin with, I made my spice mix:

Ras El Hanout

"Ras El Hanout" is a blend of spices from Morocco, but also used in other countries in North Africa. The name is Arabic for "head of the shop" and implies a mixture of the best spices the seller has to offer.

Mix together:

• 2 tspns ground ginger
• 2 tspns ground coriander
• 1.5 tspns ground cinnamon
• 1.5 tspns ground black pepper
• 1.5 tspns ground turmeric
• 1.25 tspns ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 0.5 tspn ground cloves

After mixing, I then keep this is a small airtight container.

Tagine
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp plain GF flour
• 1 tspn mixed dried herbs
• 1 tbsp toasted coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tbsp toasted cumin seeds, ground
• pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp of your Ras El Hanout
• Salt & Freshly ground pepper
• 800g lean stewing beef cut into chunks
• 4-5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large red onion, finely sliced
• 8 garlic cloves, whole with skin left on
• 2 red peppers, deseeded and finely sliced
• 1 small aubergine, cut into 2.5cm chunks
• 1 tbsp thick honey
• 400ml GF beef or vegetable stock
• 350g whole shallots, peeled (or small onions)
• Fresh chopped coriander

Method

• Put the GF flour, dried herbs, ground coriander, cumin, Ras El Hanout and chilli flakes into a large plastic food bag and season well with salt & pepper.
• Add the beef to the bag and give everything a good shake so that the beef is well covered with the flour mix
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a frying pan, over a medium heat. Add the beef, a few pieces at a time, until nicely browned on all sides. You may need to add a little more of the oil. Transfer each brown piece of meat to the tagine.
• Wipe the pan clean and gently fry the onion in the remaining oil, until softened. Add this to the meat in the tagine.
• Scatter the whole garlic cloves, sliced peppers and aubergine chunks on top of the meat and onions.
• Stir the honey into the beef stock and pour into the tagine.
• Put the lid onto the tagine and cook on the hob over a gentle heat using a heat diffuser. Or, cook in the oven at 190c for about 1 hour.
• Add the shallots, replace the lid and continue to cook for a further 30 - 60 minutes until the beef is tender. I find the longer you leave it, the tender the beef becomes, but this will also soften the vegetables - sometimes too much.
• Stir in the chopped fresh coriander and serve immediately with plain boiled rice. Make sure everyone gets a squashy garlic to pop open! 

The piping hot Tagine out of the oven - careful opening it!
  

All is revealed!

Served up with some plain boiled rice - delicious!